8/17/2019 Driehaus OHDWC May ENL 2016

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Sixth Annual OHDWC Women’s Lobby Day ‘From Birth to the Boardroom: Empowering Women, Empowering Ohio 

The Ohio House Democratic Women’s Caucus(OHDWC) recently gathered with women from across

the state to discuss and push for policy solutions to

the challenges Ohio women face. In its sixth year ofexistence, the event featuredguest speakers, a luncheon

panel and policy briefings

from women legislators.

 “It seems that every time we

turn around there’s a newthreat toward women's access

to healthcare, but very littlesupport when it comes toeconomic stability and equali-ty for women in Ohio,” said

OHDWC Chair Teresa Fedor (D-Toledo). “By bringing

together women from across the state we can initiatethoughtful dialogue with decision makers on how tocollectively overcome these issues so many women

and families face in Ohio.”  

Throughout the day, lawmakers discussed efforts topush for more gender diversity among public corpora

tions executive boards, a statewide paid family leave

program for Ohio families, closing the prevailing gender wage gap, and efforts tocombat Ohio’s abysmal infan

mortality rate that has been

declared a public health crisi

The mission of the Ohio

House Democratic Women'sCaucus, of which there are 1

current members, is to deveop and pass policies and leg-islation that improve the liveof Ohio women and their fam

ilies; to identify and support emerging women leade

by serving as mentors; to educate and empowerwomen and increase women's involvement in publiclife and in the Ohio General Assembly. 

Women Democratic Lawmakers of the 131st GA 

Democratic lawmakers recognize national Equal Pay Day

Say persistent gender wage gap hurts women and their familiesHouse Democratic lawmakers recognized Equal PayDay on April 12, which marks the day this year whenwomen’s pay finally catches up to what men were paidlast year alone.

According to the US Department of Labor, women nowcomprise half the U.S. workforce and two-thirds ofmothers bring home at least a quarter of their families’earnings.* However, in Ohio women who are employedfull-time and year-round workers only earn 78 centsfor every dollar that a man earns.**

State Reps. Kathleen Clyde (D-Kent) and StephanieHowse (D-Cleveland) are fighting to help finally ensurethat women receive equal pay for equal work in Ohio.

House Bill 330 will eliminate gag orders that keep em-ployees from talking about their salaries with one an-other and require vendors that do business with thestate to obtain equal pay certificates indicating theyare paying women equal wages and that they are givenan equal opportunity for career advancement.

Additionally, State Reps. Denise Driehaus (D-Cincinnati) and Howse have introduced House Bill 385,which establishes the Gender Pay Disparity Take Force.The task force will determine the extent and cause of

gender pay disparity in Ohio and will submit their rommendations on how to alleviate these disparities

These overdue reforms will provide greater family scurity, lower poverty rates, enable economic growtfrom increased spending, and lessen dependence opublic safety net programs like SNAP and WIC.

The gender wage gape affects more than just the ividual working woman — it impacts entire familieswages being kept from women’s pockets are dollarthat could be spent on groceries, daycare expenses

gas to fill up the car, or even rent or mortgage payments.

The passage of the federal Equal Pay Act occurred fifty years ago, and yet women in Ohio and across nation continue to struggle to obtain equal footing their male counterparts. It is time that Ohio’s wagereflect the American values of hard work and equaportunity — it is time to close the wage gap betweewomen and men.

*http://blog.dol.gov/2013/04/09/closing-the-equal-pay-gap-50years-and-counting/**http://www.nwlc.org/wage-gap-state-state